How careful are you about observing pregnancy rules? i.e. food, lifestyle etc

[flyingcloud]

I know it's a case of weighing up the risks, but coming on MN scares me sometimes! Today I read that dying my hair and eating chinese food are bad. I just wondered what experienced mothers' individual takes on this were. My friends are split between the strictly observant ones (no caffeine, no chocolate and not a snifter of alcohol) and the ones who don't really bother to find out what to do and what not to do, so eat pâté, drink a glass when they feel like, dye their hair, fly as late as they can, etc, etc.

I have done the following while pregnant, mostly unwittingly: not knowing I'm pregnant or not knowing it wasn't allowed and I'm feeling increasingly guilty:
Drink coffee (one cup a day, can't do without)
Eat chocolate
Have eaten steak tartare before knowing I was pregnant
Drank like a fish for the first two weeks (when I didn't know I was pg)
Smoked for the first two weeks (ditto)
Eaten packaged service station sandwiches
Dyed my hair
Eaten chinese food, undoubtedly stuffed with msg

etc, etc

I am not immune to toxoplasmosis either.

You may think I'm stupid for asking all these questions, but would love some real motherhood experiences.

Thank you!

I was last pregnant 7 yrs ago now. And I used what I thought of as common sense. Cut out pate and soft cheeses, cut right back on wine (but still drank a little). I gave up smoking for my first pregnancy 13yrs ago. Caffeine - carried on as normal. I ate nuts - never occured to me not to.

I am so glad that I am not pregnant now (and never will be again). There seems to be so many more restrictions now and it often seems that people are more likely to give their opinion about what you do. I'd hate that!

MrsHappy I have had a craving for parma ham for the last 2 weeks - in proper stonebaked baguette, with butter and big slices of tomatoes. Feels like holiday. First time I was pregnant I read somewhere that although we're told not to eat it, Italian women are recommended it as a good source of lean protein. I may have made that one up. I tend to become French / Italian or whatever to justify eating things that they carry on with when pregnant.

That may explain it - I may (unknown to me and my family) be Italian too.
Had some delicious buffalo mozarella the other day...

I didn't eat paté and I drank no alcohol until after my 12 week scan. I also avoided raw unpasteurised cheese and sushi. Didn't eat peanuts as my sister has a really bad nut allergy and I'm also very prone to that kind of thing (I have a different food allergy). Other than that I was pretty relaxed. I ate soft eggs and rare steak and had one or two cups of coffee a day. After 14 weeks, I had a glass or two of wine a week, topped up with plenty of fizzy water. I didn't dye my hair but only because I don't anyway. I would have done if I usually did, I think.

For any pregnant people who love stinky cheese, Waitrose do an absolutely brilliant pasteurised Epoisses. Just as good as the unpasteurised version, IMO.

Re chocolate, I read somewhere that babies of mothers who ate lots of chocolate in pregnancy are more relaxed and 'easier'.

See this article, for instance!

cheeese oh my god i want nice runny stinky salty cheese. so badly.

By the way sushi is FINE people. get in there - omega 3 tastic innit

I'm feeling guilty now

When pg with DS I was very good at following the guidelines.

I'm now 10 weeks and frankly I am not paying them a blind bit of notice - I'm dreadfully sick and frankly am just eating what I fancy! I don't eat eggs, pate or blue cheese so those are out. I've had the odd drink which is unlike me as I wasn't drinking before getting pregnant but it is Pimms season. I've eaten soft cheese (brie) although it was cooked. I've eaten peanuts because I had a craving despite there being a peanut allergy in the family. I haven't dyed my hair but am planning to as soon as I get to 12 weeks. I take paracetamol like it's going out of fashion, and codeine (have chronic arthritis and this is on advice of consultant) and am now on drugs for the MS. I've eaten prawns although I have to admit they didn't sit easy in my stomach and came straight out. I ate an entire packet of parma ham in one hit - I needed it . I've eaten sweet and sour chicken balls from the chinese (guessing those are msg?). I haven't actively cut back on caffeine but thinking about it I've gone off it - have one cup of tea per day and gone off chocolate (shock horror). Tomorrow I'm meant to be going to a wedding with a buffet - who knows what I will resist?! Oh but I don't do cat litter trays and I do wash salad, veg etc.

I feel very naughty now!

Cooked soft cheese is fine! As is paracetamol!

So pleased to find other people taking a more relaxed approach to it all. I was told off by another pregnant woman at work this afternoon for taking a paracetamol for the worst headache ever. Why can't people just mind their own business (except on mumsnet obviously ).

Paracetamol is about the only medicine you can take when pregnant! What on earth was her justification for telling you off?

If you check, most supermarkets and even small delis sell brie made from pasturised milk.. so many people missing out on yummy brie for no reason

I've eaten pasteurised brie and blue cheese, medium rare steaks, prawns, soft cooked eggs, peanuts and up to 200 mg of caffeine as recommended (I may have gone over slightly once or twice). I've had probably about 4 alcoholic drinks in 16 weeks

alana39 paracetemol was recommended to me by both my GP and dentist as the ONLY painkiller they say pregnant woman can have... it didn't touch the sides of the toothache I had, so didn;t bother with it again, but its def safe anyhoo - tell people to mind their own

I have been de-caff since the start - but only in order to save my caffeine "allowance" for chocolate

I have missed Lemsips - had a couple of very shitty colds early on and could have used the decongestant benefits.

I've drunk wine throughout; 1-2 units a week though not every week. Drunk tea though I have made an effort to cut down and substituted hot cordial instead quite often (replaced with cold now it's warm!). Haven't eaten pate but have had cooked parma ham. Haven't had brie or unpasteruised cheese and I don't like blue cheese anyway. Eggs are either from my own chickens or a local farm so I am fine with eating those with a runny yolk (the main risk is from the white as that's closer to the shell) but haven't had sorbet. Haven't had sushi either. I am looking forward to some brie with crusty bread & grapes, some Brussels pate on some nice wholemeal and some home made sorbet, though not all at the same time ...

alana at your work colleague, what are you meant to do, suffer?!! My friend had a skiing accident at 16 wks pg and broke her femur and snapped the tendons in another leg. They gave her one emergency shot of morphine for the femur op, then for her knee surgery they gave a local anaesthetic and paracetamol for the pain. They also said she could tale half an aspirin each day (in USA) but when she came home to UK her Dr told her she should stop this as it is not recommended (i think it was recommended dur to clotting/imminent flight home?).

This pg, to start with I had severe hyperemesis for the first few months so stopped drinking when I was 2-3 weeks pg as I could not hold it from then on (its how I knew I was pg). Certain food, such as chinese made it worse.

I try to be healthy, avoid the major food sources of contention such as blue cheese and uncooked/soft cooked eggs if from a farm (which they are mostly when we buy them). I avoid rottiserie chicken/meat, i get my hair dyed using foils only and i do not change the cat litter. I do not walk to work along the main road so so avoid pollution, but I swim in swimming pools filled with chlorine.

But I do not stress if I find I have 'eaten' things I should not have, I just try to avoid and what happens happens.

I do now have a coffee each day. Up until recently it was perfectly ok to have a couple of cups a day, but the government now deem us all too stupid to regulate how much we drink so now we can't have any, ditto alcohol. Now I am able, I have had a couple of low alcohol beers, and tomorrow I intend to have a glass of champagne. I also eat peanut butter even though DH had allergies as a child (but not peanut butter). I have read research which suggests to avoid, and research to suggest it is better to expose the baby in the womb to it to de-sensitise. I decided that as this was the only thing I could keep down for a while, that my body was telling me this was ok to eat, so I ate it. I have had hollondaise sauce made with eggs treated for salmonella.

There are so many 'restrictions' that if you have not followed them all, you can get yourself so so so stressed and that is not good for you, so do not stress about what you have done, and just try to stay healthy now.

With my first I was much more regimented as I did not know so much, I took the guidelines and advice too literally.

The thing about the guidelines is that they go to the most cautious point, and then people take them even further. Half of them have no basis in reality.
Don't dye your hair? Nobody can give you a good reason why not. What exactly is that going to do? Nothing. Its completely illogical.
I do my own research. And now, on my 4th pregnancy, I eat brie and blue cheese (most of them are pasteurised and comp safe), peanuts, some pate (do you know how much you would have to eat to destroy an optic nerve via the Vit A?), runny eggs, salami and prosciutto, prawns, smoked salmon, chinese food, bagged salads, sushi and more. I drink wine and beer in small amounts after 3 months, and tea and coffee when I want.

Nothing wrong with following them all if you want to, but the people who try and tell me what I'm "allowed" to have can shut up!

I would love someone to tell me once and for all if it's no to unpasteurised cheeses or unpasteurised AND all soft and blue cheeses. If it's the former - or neither - then happy days

I try to avoid anything that could possibly cause lysteria or toxoplasmosis just because the tiny chance that I might miscarry from having eaten any of these things would be something I would always have to live with.

I have no family history of allergies so I eat peanuts and peanut butter. With morning sickness I have craved savory stuff including pb.

I am not drinking alcohol at the moment as it would probably make me throw up, but from about 15 weeks or so I will have the occasional glass of wine, esp when on holiday in France.

1 in 400 eggs in Britain has salmonella, if you get it while preg it might well be worse than when not preg due to your lowered immune system, but it will not harm the baby, cause miscarriage or prem labour. I personally think that the risk is so small and as it would not actually cause anything more than extreme unpleasantness for me, then I am willing to eat a soft boiled egg!

Am not a big tea and coffee drinker myself, but would avoid excessive doses of caffeine whilst in early preg due to proven increased risk of miscarriage. Having said that coca cola has been helping my sickness quite a lot and had not thought of that having caffeine in it until now!!

Just be generally sensible and enjoy your pregnancy.

Wow this says that less than 1 in 1500 eggs in Britain has salmonella, so what is all the fuss about? Off to make myslef a soft boiled egg.

Looking at the Food Standards webpage re cheese, seems that it's the mould used to make the cheese that's the issue, not the milk (though unpasturised milk can have a nasty disease, Q fever). That's why brie/cheese with similar rind inc some goats cheese, and soft blue cheeses. Can't stand Stilton, and I rarely have Brie or Pate, but as soon as I'm not supposed to, I really want some...

Less conscientious with second pregnancy than with first, which was already relatively relaxed.

This is my 3rd preganancy and with all 3 I have not eaten nay less than I normally would. They only thing I have cut down on is alcohol and limit to 3 units at a time and it's usually only once a month.
I didn't really drink that much before but when I did I used to have quite a few so I limit myself to the 3 untis
Tonight for instance I have had 2 bottles of beer a good 2 handfuls of nuts and a bar of chocolate. For dinner I bought a cooked chicken and a prepared salad and thought nothing of it.
I have gone off coffee as couldn't drink it for the first 3 months and I get too high on it now so don't bother with it. I do however still drink about 4 cup of tea a day.

I'm an expat in France, and cannot even take a sip of my partner's glass of wine or beer without intevention from the waiter or scandalous remarks from the next table.
The idea that you can have a glass of wine once a week and be pregnant is anathema over here.
The other main messages are :
-if you are immune to toxoplasmosis (everyone is tested) then you can go ahead and eat rare meat, not worry so much about the veg washing etc
-no unpasteurised cheese - I ordered buffalo mozzerella and was told I couldn't have it the other day, even though I think it is pasteurised
-no paté & charcuterie
I had a blood test during my last pregnancy that came up positive for a toxo infection early on and had to be followed up by a specialist clinic. But the baby was fine although the risks are quite alarming. One of the key risks is mice which is why you have to be careful with cats.

I think I must have had everything you're not supposed to have at some stage (I'm 11+5). But now I'm avoiding uncooked or undercooked meats and fish, 2 cups of caffeinated tea a day (rest is decaf), avoiding runny eggs, unpasteurised cheese, pate etc. Oh and I have a really small glass of wine (about half a glass) on Friday and Saturday nights.

One poster said its a lottery. I think that's right. I'm sure when your mum had you there weren't all these rules we're meant to be following and people just ate what they liked.

What's wrong with chocolate??